Planning in-between spaces
From a theoretical perspective to urban design strategies for marginalised urban fabrics
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 21226280 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Maddalena Rossi (0000-0002-4915-6749, University of Florence), Iacopo Zetti (0000-0002-1890-8530, University of Florence) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Publication date | 2025-10-25 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | City, Territory and Architecture (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2195-2701 • E-ISSN: 2195-2701 |
| Publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1186/s40410-025-00286-4 |
| OpenAlex | W4415536706 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 35 |
In recent years vigorous theoretical debate about urban transformation processes has resulted in several studies of the intermediate city, a new form of urbanity. Some scholars have highlighted a complex intertwining of factors that contribute to the proliferation of in-between spaces within intermediate cities: these include the spatial logic underpinning the capitalist development model, the current economic crisis, a lack of interest in heritage resources and an indifference to the quality of public space. The literature has also noted that transformation processes in intermediate cities lack strategic guidance and consequently generate only negative outcomes: isolated piecemeal additions, insignificant projects and emergency remedial measures. This paper provides an overview of the theoretical debate on the intermediate city and the concept of the in-between spaces within its confines. It suggests these spaces should not be considered as degraded urban areas, but rather as places with regenerative potential that could be harnessed through innovative design strategies which exploit their latent potential. The authors argue that in-between spaces should be treated as phenomena of a multi-relational reality, where disorder and uncertainty can be embraced as opportunities for innovation and community-driven design processes. They then outline the key characteristics of in-between spaces and explore, through argument rather than experimental case studies, how these characteristics can inform design principles and strategies that move away from bureaucratic urban management towards more socially and environmentally equitable approaches to (re)produce public space
Bureaucracy · Exploit · Sustainable development · Underpinning · Urban design · Urban planning · Urban policy · Urban and Rural Development Challenges · Urban Design and Spatial Analysis · Urban Planning and Governance
The Politics of Urban Potentiality
Cities Without Cities
Contemporary Public Space, Part Two
Performing Property
Principles for public space design, planning to do better
Decoding the multiplex structure of border region networks
Polycentricity
Pioneering urban practices in transition spaces
Urban disorder and vitality
Seeking polycentric post-suburbanization
The Polycentric Urban Region
Reframing strategic spatial planning by using a coproduction perspective
From critical urban theory to the right to the city
Rethinking urban public space
Collective culture and urban public space
Uprooting critical urbanism
Beyond Postmetropolis
Beyond the Territorial Fix
Poetics of relation
The 21st-Century Metropolis
Regions unbound
The City as Assemblage
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |